VCCI News

Last updated: Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Towards Sustainable Development amidst Industrial Revolution 4.0

Posted: Monday, July 16, 2018

The National Conference on Sustainable Development 2018 was successfully held in Hanoi City. Themed “Enhancing Competitiveness, Realising Sustainable Development Goals amidst Industrial Revolution 4.0”, the conference focused on issues and solutions aimed to promote public-private partnership (PPP) to enhance competitiveness and sustainable development in Vietnam in the coming time.

The conference, chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and attended by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, brought together more than 800 delegates who are representatives from Party and Government agencies, enterprises, business associations, research institutions, embassies, international organisations, academics as well as domestic and foreign news agencies.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said, this is a sizeable conference on sustainable development in Vietnam and offers an opportunity for the business community to interact directly with Party, Government and agency leaders to seek increased support from the Government for the sustainable development. The Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc believed that, with the effort of the Government, the cooperation of the business community, the consensus of the society and the support and cooperation of the international community, Vietnam will fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda with best results, especially in the context of optimising all achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Dr Vu Tien Loc, President of VCCI and Co-chair of VBCSD, highly appreciated the theme of the conference. He strongly affirmed that Vietnam will accelerate and become an upper middle-income country within the next two decades highlighted by impressive achievements in equality, social justice and effective administration. He also stressed the importance of the business, the consensus and efforts of all social actors and stakeholders as well as the effective cooperation and support of international institutions. “We are moving forward with the full participation of every individual, every group of individuals and every sector contributing to the country's overall prosperity and delivering SDGs in time,” Dr Loc noted.

Mr Ousmane Dione, World Bank Country Director for Vietnam, shared megatrends that may shape the Vietnam economy in the future, including shifting trade patterns, rise of the knowledge economy, climate change, and aging population. He also introduced important findings from the “Future Jobs of Vietnam” Report, where he stressed that if those megatrends are not harnessed effectively, the “employment machine” may not function properly, resulting in the insecurity of jobs future. He said, to achieve sustainable development and improve competitiveness, Vietnam needs to develop and deploy different types of capital (institutional, human, physical, and natural) together with keeping up with the megatrends and make sure that the employment machine works smoothly.

At the conference, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) announced the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G National Forum). The purpose of the forum is to facilitate and promote the development of public-private partnerships that enables the delivery of SDGs 2030 through Green Growth and facilitate and scale up the implementation of solutions on a global scale.

Besides, the conference delved into current topics of much interests, including developing the circular economy - a new economic model of the world where there is no concept of waste and all resources are utilised completely and efficiently; the Future of Jobs in the Industry Era 4.0 - what is the role of government and the private sector in securing jobs amidst the rise of artificial intelligence, the Internet of things and automation; Sustainability Reporting and the Corporate Sustainability Index (CSI) - effective tools to manage risk, catch better business opportunities and invest for businesses in the current context; Advancing innovative start-ups to improve productivity and competitiveness - Labour productivity and competitiveness are always quizzes needed to be addressed for economic growth and this become more urgent and more important when Vietnam is embracing the digital era and engaging more deeply in international trade agreements.

The National Conference on Sustainable Development in 2018 was strongly supported by strategic partners, including Heineken Vietnam Brewery Limited Company, Coca-Cola Beverages Vietnam Ltd, and many others.